Sunday, March 30, 2014

Iran: No end in sight

Iran has had a declining economy for
quite some time now as a result of years of mismanagement and
detrimental economic sanctions that have gradually sucked the economy
dry. The economy has been dead, lying lifeless and comatose, and the
Iranian people have been drowning in their economically deprived
nation just hoping for something to save them from these economic
woes. Last year, the Iranian people thought they had found that hope
in Hassan Rouhani when they voted in massive numbers to elect him as
president as he offered an attractive future for Iran that involved
economic revitalization by improving international relations, and in
doing so, international trade. However, such bright visions for the
future turned out to be largely fruitless. President Rouhani has
managed to halt inflation, but with the lack of petrodollars and
rapidly declining tax revenues, President Rouhani has been pushed to
take some fairly drastic measures: cuts in energy subsidies that will
nearly double the price of electricity and gasoline.

Many Iranians have been forced to take
on second jobs as a result of the economic woes that plague the
country, and for many, this second job is illegal street vending. Yet
despite this outburst of street vending, many Iranians have found
very little success in their secondary jobs.

The economic decline has produced a
stark decline in people's faith in the governments ability to get the
economy going, and outside investors have also been convinced that
Iran's economic decline will just continue on its downward spiral.
The amount of outside investment has declined year to year, and this
has only served to exacerbate the economic troubles of Iran.

In response to the decline and the
growing unrest among the Iranian people, Ayatollah Ali Khameni,
Iran's supreme leader, has urged the government to focus less on the
economic growth but rather focus on the social issues and for a more
equal distribution of wealth. In his words “The Islamic system does
not accept economic growth without social justice.” Khameni
envisions a future for Iran where Iran is largely self-sufficient.
Rouhani, on the other hand, sees that only improved international
relations and the resulting increased trade serves as the only path
to economic growth and social growth.

Iran, in the strictest sense, needs to
focus more on its economy before it dedicates more efforts towards
fixing the social issues that plague its citizens. Solving social
issues for Iran in its current state is next to impossible as Iran
is currently drowning miserably. Ayatollah Khameni's goal of making
Iran largely self-sufficient is unrealistic, oversimplifies the
issues that plague Iran, and does not take into account many fairly
insurmountable factors such as the fact that Iran lacks the massive
amounts of resources and infrastructure necessary to become a
self-sufficient state. Growing unrest in Iran is a major issue, but
attempting to make a self-sufficient state is not the answer. For Iran, it seems as though there is no end in sight for its economic troubles.